The President welcomed the Ambassador to take up his mission in Chile and conveyed his regards to Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang and other leaders.

He recalled good memories of his trips to Vietnam, including the official visit to the Southeast Asian country in March 2012 as the President of Chile in his first tenure of 2010-2014.

He also expressed pleasure at developments in the bilateral friendship over the past 45 years and suggested the two countries expand cooperation in economy and trade.

The President said he looks forward to welcoming the Vietnamese delegation to Chile on the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit 2019.

Ambassador Son conveyed the invitation of President Tran Dai Quang to President Sebastian Pinera to visit Vietnam.

He pledged to contribute to the development of relations between the two countries’ governments and peoples.

Vietnam and Chile have enjoyed sound ties in all fields since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1971.

The two nations have signed many deals facilitating their affiliation, including a free trade agreement in 2012. Two-way trade grew to 1.3 billion USD in 2017 from under 200 million USD in 2005.

The newly-signed Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), of which Vietnam and Chile are members, is expected to drive bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation.-VNA